Respirator mask



RESPIRATOR MASK Filed sept. 28, 1939 -2 sheets-.Sheet 1 3 www@ Patented Apr. 15, l1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

. v2,238,492 ff* y l RESPIRATOR MASK charles W. Loguiuon, Akron, ohio, assignor to" The B. F. Goodrich Company, New York, N. Y., acorporation of New York f j Y, Application september 2s, 1939, seria1No.`29s,9s2

v 4 Claims.4 (Cl. 12K-141) u' fogging has resulted, although intermittently and somewhat reduced. Y

Also gas masks heretofore have been more or less limited in the angle of vision provided. Even though the lenses have been large, theyhave required bulky attaching rims or frames that have limited the angle of vision. Such lenses have been mounted in face coverings of opaque material, which has made it difficult if no t imbaieistructure .of Fig. ,18

the face-piece.y

possible to recognize the face of the wearer, and

the grotesque appearance of such masks andthe hiding of the face have been psychologically ob-V jectionable.

Chief objects of this invention Aare to provide 1 a protective mask of such construction as to give the maximum angle of vision, to provide al mask of transparent, iiexible material such that'a large part of the face of the wearer remains visible, to=` prcwide'lnconspicuous and secure attachment of lenses and other parts to the face piece, to provide means for effectively reducing or eliminating fogging of the lenses, and to provide a mask of light weight and neat appearance. l f

These and further objects will be apparent fromy the following description referencevbeing hadto A the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a gas mask constructed according to and embodying theinven-V tion and mounted upon a wearer.

Fig. 2 is a section taken along the of Fig, 1. f A

Fig. 3 is a section taken along theline 3-3 of Fig. 1.

F18. 4 is -a section taken of Fig. 1. y

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the inside of the mask face piece with attaching harnessvand connections to the cannister and'ilutter valve removed.

Fig. Gis a view on an enlarged scale yof oneof theeyeportionsofthe mask.y 1 o Fig. '1 is a section taken along the line 1-,1 QFBZ. i

along the .line 4 ,4

line y27 2 *l ther modified constructioni.

, gs. a, 9, 1o @non are views mio` Fig. ,7 but showing modied constructions.

Fig. 12 is a view like Fig. 1 but showing a modifk v fied construction.v i Fig13 is asectiontaken along the line |3-I3 of Fig. 12.

Fig. 14.is a sectiontaken along the line II--Ilr ofFig..12. A. a

Fig.` 15 is a view like Fig. 1 but showing a fur- Fig.,1 6,is, a section takenalong theline IG-IB ofFig.15.-' f" 'i ff Fig. 17 is al section taken -salong the line l'l--Il Fig. 18 is a view like Fig. 14 but showing a modified constructionv of the bathe-structure..V

Fig. 19 is a viewas seenrfrom above ofthe Accordingto onefeature ofthe invention lI provide a mask face piece of transparent yiiexible materialA -that is. impervious lto noxiousgases,

vapors,dust and; other objectionable substances', constructed to provide afvirtually unlimited angle of vision ztotheawearerpand' visibility :of ythe greaterf portionor entirefface'fjotfthe wearer so thatv the features of thewearerare'more clearly recognizable through the mask. ,Theeye pieces or lenses.v may-.be simplyA portionsfof, the transparent;` face piece itself, but preferablyare-independentL 'pieces .secured-:to the iacev piece'lso that while the eye pieces may be` of `ireiativeiystiil,strausparent material fonclearestvision, the remainder, of the lfacepiece maybe rof fmore" flexible transe' parent material for maximum comfortfto the wearerandmost effectiveesealing `of the face chamber. The. eyepieces preferably-.are secured to thefvace piece-byheat-sealed seams whlchprovidean lintimate bonding of Athefinaterials fona strong. union with'. minimum bulkand maximum light transmission; All -f otherseams `anda-joints preferably` are -heat-sealed; also for?y like.reasons.

The heat sealing is eiected byI the, application of heat and pressure as bythesusel ofahotiron. Itis preferredA tovusei'fiexible transparent materialsthat are capable of being heat-sealed reado i1y,.,butii5k desired,` the transparent flexible -ma'- terials `may adhesively united, for `united by,` mechanical-amnera supplementalto the heat- .@iix. `Thaface piecamay befprrovided of-anyfsuitabie Y transparentiexible material.- Byway of; example; may` be.; nientionvedx` zsuch materials as ce1lulo se,. derivatives including cellulose acetate ,andcellu-i 10S? nitrate: rebasaand!rnbbetderivatwes@auch before attachment to.

as rubber isomers and rubber hydrochloride; and polymeric materials such as the various polymers and copolymers of acrylic compounds, including methyl methacrylate, and oi vinyl compounds, such as vinyl esters and ethers, including vinyl chloride, vinyl acetate, as well as styrene, and of dienes, such as butadiene, and derivatives of such polymeric materials, such as polyvinyl acetals; includingr sufficient proportions of plasticizers, where necessary to provide the properties of flexibility and durability. The materials may be provided either in sheet form or in any suitable molded form,

The transparent eye pieces or lenses may be of any lsuitable transparent material including, for example, those above listed and glass and combinations thereof, including laminatedvglass to resist breakage.

The transparent flexible materials may be provided in varying degrees of iiexibility or stiffness and, as is hereinabove explained, it is preferred` to use a relatively flexible material for the face piece and a relatively stiff material for the eye pieces. Good results have been obtained with a face piece of the material sold under the trade name Koroseal (an insoluble polymer of vinyl chloride plasticized to give a rubber-like gel) and eye pieces of a copolymer of vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate with little or no plasticizer added so that it will maintain the desired stiffness. These materials are readily heat-sealed as by the application of a hot iron. It will be understood, however, that the invention is not wholly limited to any particular kind of transparent iiexible material. I

Provision is made for dividing the lace chamber into an upper, sight subchamber and a lower subchamber` for breathing. To this end a baille structure is disposed transversely across the mask preferably just below the eyes, the baille structure being constructed and arranged to permit passage of air from the upper subchamber to the lower subchamber upon inhalation and to impose resistance to or prevent iiow of air in the reverse direction upon exhalation. Inlet conduit means A' For most effective operation it is preferred that the baille structure comprise valve means of a check valve nature. This may be provided, for

example, in the form of a iiexlble and resilient lip extending downwardly and toward thek face, which lip is flexed toward the face upon an excess of diierential pressure in the lower subchamber to retard or prevent ilow of airY upward into the upper subchamber, and is flexed away from the face upon an excess of differential pressure in the upper subchamber to permit downward flow, which occurs upon inhalation.` To the same end, flaps or other valve means may be provided in association with the baille.

With reference to the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 7, the mask comprises a face piece 20 of transparent, ilexible' material, as hereinbefore described, having a plurality of tabs 2l, 2l connected to a head harness 22 which may comprise straps adjustable for flt in buckles 23. The tabs 2| of the transparent ilexible material preferably are formed in a loop of integral heat-sealed construction to receive the buckle 23, as shown at 24 in Fig. 4.

At the lower front of the mask ls provided a connection 25 to a protective cannister. and an outlet connection 26 to a utter valve 21. The cannister and the ilutter valve may be of any suitable construction, The transparent face piece, which may be of tailored sheet material or material molded to shape, is formed around the upper ends of connections 25 andZB preferably by rst wrapping the connections with layers 28, 29 of cord to which the .material of the face piece is subsequently heat-sealed by the apf plication of heat and pressure as by the use of a hot iron. f desired, the cord wrappings may be coated and impregnated with an adhesive capable of being bonded to the material of the lface piece in the heat-sealing process to assure a tight and secure connection, or the face piece in some cases may be adhered to the cord, or mechanically clamped thereto.

The face piece is continuous under the chin, over the cheeks and across the forehead. It is found that a seal is thus provided despite variations in faces, the flexibility of the material being effective to cause the material to fit the face closely. In case the face-piece is formed from sheet material, the face-ntting shape may be given by bringing together the cut margins 30 of the sheet beneath the chin and heat sealing the margins together with a reinforcing strip 3| of the transparent material.

Eye pieces 32, 33 of transparent material, preferably stiffer than the material of the facepiece to minimize distortion of the vision, are mounted in apertures in the face piece preferably by heat-sealing. Each eye-piece may be formed in overlapping relation with the margin of the face piece as is shown, for example, in Figs. 3, 6 and 7 and an overlying tape 34, which may also be of flexible transparent material, covers the overlapping margin. These three elements may then be united by `heat-sealing to form a strong and tight seam.

The baille structure may be conveniently combined with conduit means for conducting air from the cannister connection 25 to the region of the eye pieces, the/air being conducted upwardly between the lower part of the baille structure and the material of the face piece. The baille structure comprises lip portions 35 and 36 extending across the face just below the eyes and joined by a portion 31 across the nose. These lips are curved to conform to the curvature of the face in this region, and while they may or may not actually touch the face of the wearer they are preferably flexible and extend downwardly toward the face of the wearer where they terminate in thin iiexible margins to serve by a valve action to resist upward movement of air more strongly than downward movement.

These lips may be provided in the form of extensions at the upper end of a conduit portion 38 of the baille shaped to provide a passageway between the portion 38 and the face piece leading from the cannister connection 25 to the upper subchamber over the lip portions 35 and 36 so that incoming air will becaused to iioW against the two eye pieces and then over the lips 35 and 36 down intothe lower subchamber for inhalation. The margins of the conduit portions 38 of the bafilepreferably are heat-sealed to the face piece, and for further promoting the maintenance of the proper shape for holding ythe intake passageway open the portion 38 may be suitably stifiened by increased thickness or increased stiffness of the material. 'Ihe baille piece may be molded to shape or it may be tailored from sheet `the exhaled air is discharged through the outlet material; Preferably the? baille is formed of transparent flexible material, although this'part may be provided of translucent or opaque? material having the desired exibilityand preferably A also resiliencein the lips. i

Upon inhalationfby the'-wearerf air is drawn from the cannster 25 upwardly =through the conduit lbetweenthe portion and the fac'efpiece `2li', over the lips 35 and 36 down into thelower subchamber.' f Exhalation builds upfpressure-Yin ithe lower subchamber suiilcient yto open' the nutthe eye-piecesisl'minimized or entirely prevented.

Figs. 8, 9, and1 11 show modified attachments of the lenses to the face-piece'.i In-Fig.18 the construction: is likei that-of Figdl exceptv that rapertures 40 yare provided near'. the edgeofthe lenses through whichthetransparent'material is flowed in the bestffsealing operation for'vthe sake of rx'n attachment o'f the lenses to the facepiece to resist pulling forces that would tend to loosen the attachment. In Fig. 9 rings or bands 4I, 42 are embeddedl in the transparent material adjacent the margins of the lenses for reinforcing the attachment. Referring to Fig. 10, in a case where the material of the lenses is such that it may be integrally united with the material of the face-piece by heat-sealing a homogeneous structure is provided, even though the lens 43 is of stiff transparent material as compared with the facepiece 20. As in the previous embodiments a uniting strip 4,4 of transparent material is mounted in super-imposed relation to the margin of the lens and the face-piece and in this case the three elements are united integrally by heat-sealing.

In cases where itis desired to mount the lenses in metal rims projecting forwardly of the facepiece the 'construction of Fig. 11 may be used.

Here the transparent flexible material of the face-piece -is extended forwardly at 45 in which extending portion is embedded the margin of a metal rim or band 46 which may be corrugated helically as shown for increased strength and to provide screw attachment for a super-imposed band 41. The bottom margins of the flanges 46 and 41 are turned inwardly at 48, 49 to receive the margin of an eye-piece 32 which with suitable gaskets may be clamped in gas-tight relation between the portions 48 and 49 upon screwing the band 41 upon the band 46. This provides a convenient arrangement for replacing lenses in the eld.

The objects of the invention, including extensive transparency, and the baille structure having the valve action, may be provided also in other constructions. With reference to the embodiments of Figs. 12, 13 and 14, the construction is generally like that described for the first embodiment, including the provision of a transparent face-piece 50 and a baille 5I having lips 52 providing a valve action, but in this embodiment the air is conductedfrom an inlet 53 by a tubular conduit 54 directly to the region between the eyes where side openings 55, 56 let the air into the upper sub-chamber of the mask where it is directed laterally onto the lens. The air is then drawn down into the lower subchamber for breathing past the valve lips 52 of the baille. As 'A in the rst embodiment, upon exhalation the valve lips 52 resist upward flow of the air while 51."l 'As will be seen most clearly in Fig. 12 the lens 56 may-'extend entirely across the eye region of lthe face' in goggle fashion. This one-piece lens may be'of stimy flexible material, or glass, preferably laminated, suitably bent to conform yto the desired shape of the face-piece.

In Figs. 15, 16 and 17 the construction is somewhat similar to `that of the embodiment of Figs. 12 to 14,' but in this embodiment the inlet conduit 60 isi divided shortly above the intake connection 6|y so'that air is conducted individually toeach eye pocket by branches 62, 63 of the conduit: The branches have oblique upper ends 64, 65 so that-the'inha-led'air is drawn outwardly and upwardly for effective coverage of the eye-piece before the air is drawn down into the lower subchamber for breathing. In this embodiment the eye-pieces are formed as continuations of the face-piece 66itsclf.l This provides greater visibility of `the features of the wearer and is useful l in many applications, although stii lenses are preferred for such uses as require maximum clarity of vision,l for example in sighting a rearm.':--As in the embodiments heretofore described a baille structure 61 is provided having flexible and preferably resilient lips 68 to permit `downward flow of air but to resist upward flow.

Referring to Figs. 18y and 19, in somecases it may be desirable to provide apertures 10, 10 through the baille toincrease the `down flow of air through `the bafllell. Resilient ilaps 12, 12 may be provided integralwith the baille at the lower side, which flaps are adapted to close the apertures upon exhalation to resist or prevent upward iiow of air through'the apertures. Such valved apertures may be provided in lieu of the flexible lips hereinbefore described, or as a supplement to the exible lips for providing the check valve action. The `lip 13Vneed ,not actually touch the face of the wearer, approximate contact being sufllcient in most cases to prevent objectionable fogging. i

In the embodiments hereinbefore described actual contactof the valve lip of thel baille with the-face ofthe wearer is shown, but it will be understood that actual contact or only approximate contact may be provided, as desired.

Variations may be made without departing from the scope of th'e invention as it is hereinafter claimed. f

I claim:

1. A respirator mask providing a face piece providing a. face chamber', a baille structure extending transversely of the mask in said chamber and providing an upper subchamber at the eye portion and a lower subchamber for breathing, said baille comprising a iexible lip extending downwardly and toward the face of the wearer approximately in contact with the latter, said lip being effective to permit flow of the main body of air for breathing from said upper subchamber into said lower subchamber along the face of the wearer more easily than flow in the reverse direction, intake means opening into said upper subchamber and outlet means for said lower subchamber. l f

2. A respirator mask providing a face-cham'- ber, a baille structure extending transversely of the mask in said chamber and providing an upper subchamber at the eye portion anda lower subchamber for breathing, saidV baffle `comprising a marginal flexible lip portionextending downwardly in a direction to approach the face of the wearer gradually and terminating in an edge approximately in contact with the face so that said lip is effective to permit flow of the main body of air for breathing from said upper subchamber into said lower suochamber along the face of the wearer'more easily than flow in the reverse direction, intake means into said upper subchamber, and outlet means for said lower subchamber.

3. A respirator mask providing a face-chamber, a baille structure extending transversely of the mask in said chamber and providing an upper subcharnber at the eye portion and a lower subchamber for breathing, said baille comprising a marginal flexible lip portion extending downwardly in a direction to approach the face of the wearer gradually and terminating in an edge approximately in contact with the face so that said lip is effective to permit flow of the main body of air for breathing from said upper subchamber into said lower subchamber along the face of the wearer more easily than flow in the reverse direction, intake means into said upper subchamber, and outlet means for said lower subchamber, said marginal flexible lip portion being of decreasing thickness and increasing flexibility toward, said edge providing self supporting strength of said portion together with flexibility for effective lip, valve action.

4. A respirator mask comprising a face plate of transparent ilexible polymer of vinyl chloride, a relatively stlif eye piece of vinyl chloride material to which the face piece is heat sealed, a baffle element of vinyl chloride material extending across the nose and upper front cheek portions and occupying an extensive area adjacent the eye region and heat sealed to the inner wall of the face piece dividing the mask chamber into an upper subchamber and a lower subchamber, said baille comprising a marginal flexible lip portion extending downwardly in a direction to approach the face of the wearer gradually and being of decreasing thickness and increasing ilexibility toward the face of the wearer and terminating in an edge approximately in contact with the face so that said lip is effective to permit ow of the main body of air for breathing from vsaid upper subchamber into said lower subchamber along the face of the wearer more easily than ilow in the reverse direction.

CHARLES W. LEGUILLON. 

